{"id":2613521,"date":"2026-06-12T05:48:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T09:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bernie-sanders-is-reshaping-the-democratic-party-in-his-image\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T05:48:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T09:48:02","slug":"bernie-sanders-is-reshaping-the-democratic-party-in-his-image","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bernie-sanders-is-reshaping-the-democratic-party-in-his-image\/","title":{"rendered":"Bernie Sanders is reshaping the Democratic Party in his image"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbernie-sanders-is-reshaping-the-democratic-party-in-his-image%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2613521&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/bernie-sanders\/\">Bernie Sanders<\/a> (I-VT) is winding down his long political career. \u201cI suspect that\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d he <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4599811\/bernie-sanders-2028-president-bid\/\">told<\/a> journalist Robert Costa when asked about a third bid for the Democratic presidential nomination during an event at the National Press Club.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/4605434\/brad-lander-acquitted-protest-immigration-court\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Brad Lander acquitted of criminal charge over protest at immigration court<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4605185\/amodei-trump-nevada-david-flippo-democrats-race-replace-him\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Amodei says Trump-backed Nevada candidate gives Democrats a chance in race to replace him<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4604292\/graham-platner-maine-senate-vetting-naomi-lim\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Democrats failed to vet Graham Platner before Senate nomination: Naomi Lim<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanders had all but ruled out running for reelection to the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate\/\">Senate<\/a> seat he\u2019s held since 2007 when his current term expires, saying shortly after he won again in 2024 that this would likely be his last go-round. (He has been more equivocal on that front, however: Last January, he <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.burlingtonfreepress.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2025\/01\/21\/bernie-sanders-files-to-run-for-reelection-in-2030\/77845048007\/\">filed<\/a> paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to run again in 2030, just weeks after being sworn in for his fourth term.)<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap\" style=\"min-height:5px;\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" style=\"display:none;\">Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the 84-year-old <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/socialism\/\">socialist<\/a> clearly knows that his age is a limitation at this point. \u201cBecause they want youthful vigor in the White House! That\u2019s what they want. We\u2019re tired of these 30- and 40-year-old people,\u201d he quipped to the laughing audience when asked about his 2028 plans. \u201cWhat we really need are 80-year-olds running the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanders\u2019s ideology aside, it would be remarkable for the country to elect its third consecutive octogenarian president after never having previously voted for a commander-in-chief of that age. \u201cI know I look like I\u2019m 30; I am not. And that\u2019s that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) arrives to speak at the National Press Club in Washington on June 8. (Jacquelyn Martin\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The longtime Vermont lawmaker said something similar when he seemingly ruled out another Senate term. \u201cI\u2019m 83 now. I\u2019ll be 89 when I get out of here,\u201d Sanders <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/12\/10\/bernie-sanders-senate-term-00193608\">told<\/a> <em>Politico <\/em>at the time when asked if he was running his last campaign. \u201cYou can do the figuring. I don\u2019t know, but I would assume, probably, yes.\u201d Then-President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"471\">Joe Biden<\/a> was forced to end his campaign for a second term earlier that year after a faltering debate performance intensified fears he had gotten too old for the job. Sanders is more than a year older than Biden.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap\" style=\"min-height:5px;\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" style=\"display:none;\">Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If Sanders has run for office for the last time, he may be going out on top. He has never been more influential within the Democratic Party, despite never seeking office on the party\u2019s line until he ran for its presidential nomination for the first time in 2016. (Sanders has caucused with Democrats his entire congressional career, dating back to his first House term in 1991.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Candidates endorsed by Sanders keep winning Democratic primaries. This includes <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/graham-platner\/\">Graham Platner<\/a> in Maine, who drove establishment-backed Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) out of the race months ago and won the nomination to challenge Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/susan-collins\/\">Susan Collins<\/a> (R-ME) with 72.4% despite a slew of negative headlines in the days leading up to the primary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCongratulations to Graham Platner on his landslide victory in Maine,\u201d <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/berniesanders\/status\/2064541218961338816?s=46\">Sanders wrote<\/a> in a celebratory social media post after the election was called for his candidate. \u201cTogether, we will defeat Oligarchy and create an economy that works for all, not just the few.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap\" style=\"min-height:5px;\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" style=\"display:none;\">Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), then-mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) appear on stage during a rally on Oct. 26, 2025. (Heather Khalifa\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanders stood by Platner when a sexting scandal prompted Mills to remind Maine voters she was still on the ballot, even if she had stopped actively campaigning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe got a housing crisis. People can\u2019t afford healthcare; they can\u2019t afford groceries; they can\u2019t afford to fill up their gas tanks. And I think it\u2019s important for us to focus on the issues facing working families a little bit more than Graham Platner\u2019s marriage,\u201d he told reporters on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI wish their marriage the very best. But right now, I think we should be focusing on the crises facing the working class and electing people of the guts to stand up to the oligarchs who control our country,\u201d Sanders added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Platner may be the most prominent Sanders pick, but he isn\u2019t the only successful one. In California, Randy Villegas <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/06\/09\/valadao-progressive-challenger-randy-villegas-00947506\">advanced to a runoff<\/a> ahead of the candidate preferred by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He will face vulnerable Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) on the Nov. 3 ballot. Villegas joined another Sanders-backed Democratic House candidate in making it to the general election: Bob Brooks in Pennsylvania, Brian Poindexter in Ohio, Sam Forstag in Montana, and Adam Hamawy in New Jersey. Plus Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-NJ), who won an April special election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cProgressives are on the march,\u201d Sanders declared on June 3. He issued a statement rattling off his allies\u2019 recent primary victories, concluding, \u201ccandidates willing to stand up for working people are taking on the establishment and WINNING.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New York City Mayor <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/zohran-mamdani\/\">Zohran Mamdani<\/a> is another Sanders ally in high places. Last year, he took on former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary and won. The young socialist upstart then beat Cuomo again in the general election. Sanders swore in Mamdani as mayor at the beginning of the year.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, left, join hands at an event in Orono, Maine, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou showed the world the most important lesson that can be learned today \u2014 and that is that when working people stand together, when we don\u2019t let them divide us up, there is nothing we cannot accomplish,\u201d Sanders told Mamdani in a speech delivered beforehand at the event outside New York City Hall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For his part, Mamdani has hailed Sanders as \u201cthe single most influential political figure in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Uganda-born Mamdani isn\u2019t constitutionally eligible to run for president and therefore can\u2019t succeed Sanders at that level. But Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/alexandria-ocasio-cortez\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"282\">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a> (D-NY) can. The 36-year-old was one of the first socialist Sanders acolytes to topple a Democratic establishment figure when she defeated 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley, then the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, in a 2018 primary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have joined forces on their \u201cFighting Oligarchy\u201d tour, drawing tens of thousands at rallies across the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe believe in a government of the people, by the people and for the people,\u201d Sanders said at one such event in a heavily Republican California congressional district. \u201cNot a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires and for the billionaires.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEvery single one of us, I think, is a beneficiary of the work that he has accomplished,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez later said of Sanders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After decades of running for office as an independent or the nominee of obscure left-wing political parties, Sanders is reshaping the Democratic Party in his image. That\u2019s why, despite his advanced age, some are clamoring for him to run for president or the Senate again \u2014\u00a0perhaps both.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 2028 Democratic primaries are likely to be crowded. His most fervent admirers believe Sanders could cobble together enough support to win in a multi-candidate field. That might have happened in 2020, but relatively centrist Democrats quickly consolidated behind Biden when it looked like they could be saddled with a socialist presidential nominee. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Pete Buttigieg, then only the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, all dropped out and endorsed Biden at a convenient time rather than split the non-socialist vote. Black Democrats rallied to save Biden\u2019s precarious candidacy in the crucial South Carolina primary. (Sanders, who represents one of the country\u2019s whitest states, has traditionally struggled to win black support.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sanders supporters feel the Democratic establishment more overtly put its thumb on the scale against their candidate to benefit Hillary Clinton in 2016. They believe Sanders could have gotten enough working-class votes to stop Donald Trump in either election, especially in the Rust Belt states that delivered him the presidency in both 2016 and 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is no consensus on who would replace Sanders as the leader of this movement or as its representative in the 2028 Democratic presidential primaries. In addition to Ocasio-Cortez, who might also have her eyes on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer\u2019s (D-NY) seat when it\u2019s up that same year, there is Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA). Khanna has been traversing the country in preparation for a national candidacy, and like Sanders, was a top surrogate for Platner in Maine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats are currently facing a Tea Party-like moment, a revolt against the party\u2019s leaders and elders (except Sanders himself). Unlike the small-government Tea Party, however, this intraparty insurgency is being driven by socialists and diehard progressives who believe passionately in the government\u2019s power to solve problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve, and no concern too small for it to care about,\u201d Mamdani said as he became mayor of America\u2019s largest city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4596773\/graham-platner-rise-mamdani-moraff-katz-fan\/\"><strong>FROM A MAMDANI GURU TO A CARD-CARRYING SOCIALIST, HERE\u2019S WHO\u2019S HELPING PLATNER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Sanders wing of the party has seemingly won the argument over why Democrats lost in 2024: Former Vice President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kamala-harris\/\">Kamala Harris <\/a>abandoned progressive economics and lost the working class to Trump. (The conclusion could have just as easily been that Harris was the victim of the rampant <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/inflation\/\">inflation<\/a> sparked by even a half-hearted attempt at economic progressivism under Biden\u2019s watch.) Republicans attacked Harris more for cultural wokeness than for activist government during the 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If this is Sanders\u2019s final political act, it is a long goodbye. A man who once was a single-digit also-ran as a perennial candidate is now a senior citizen entering the most consequential phase of his career. Whether that redounds to the benefit of the Democratic Party \u2014\u00a0or the country \u2014\u00a0remains to be seen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>W. James Antle III (@jimantle) is executive editor of the <\/em>Washington Examiner <em>magazine<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is winding down his long political career. \u201cI suspect that\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d he told journalist Robert Costa when asked about a third bid for the Democratic presidential nomination during an event at the National Press Club. Recommended Stories Brad Lander acquitted of criminal charge over protest at immigration court<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2659,"featured_media":2613522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Feat.Bernie1.061726.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2613521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Feat.Bernie1.061726.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2613521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2613521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2613521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2613522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2613521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2613521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2613521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}